Deseeding machinery for flax and other fibrous plants



T. E. MITCHELL. [.)ESEEDING MACHINERY FOR FLAX AND OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS.

min sEPT.2a,1921. 5 SHEETS-TSHEET 1.

Jam 9, 1923. LMMLWB..

T. E. MITCHELL.

DESEEDNG MACHINERY FOR FLAX AND OTHER FIBROUSPLANTS.

FILED SEPT. 23, 192i. 5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' 1,441,993, T. E. MITCHELL.

DESEEDING MACHINERY FOR FLAX'AND OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS.

' FILED SEPT.23, 1921- EEDING MACHINERY FOR FLAX AND OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS. l

, FILED SEPTH'ZS, 192|.

D ES

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Jain. 9, 1923. MIILQICIE.. T. E. MITCHELL.

DESEDING MACHINERY FOR FLAX AND OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS.

FILED SEPT. 23. 192|. 5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

m KMISI..

t yah/1MM l/Iw/ www.,

Application filed September 23, 1921. Serial No. 502,762.

The invention relates to deseeding nia-` chines for flax and other ibrous plants, and or' the kind in which there are rollers armed with pins or like projections, and has for its object to so arrange the pins or groups tl1ercof upon two engaging rollers, that the flax or other plants in sheaves are thoroughly treated and the seeds or the like substantially removed from the seed-bearingparts et each plant. f

ln carrying out the invention, a pair oit rollers is arranged so adjacent to each other 'that while their surfaces do not touch, their pins interinesh and the rollers are so driven that their adjacent surfaces move in the same direction and at the same speed.

According to the invention, the pins or the like are arranged singly o1.' in groups in helices of opposite hand approaching` each other and finally meeting, in other words along the sides ot a triangle developed around the roller and the base oit which triangle is parallel with the axis ot the roller. rlhe rollers are so relatively circumferentiall y positioned th at the apex oit the series oit pins on one roller enters when. the rollers are rotated between the series et pins` on the other roller, at a point substantially midway between the base and the apex oit that series and vice versa. 'llhus all parts ot the sheat are successively attacked by the pins which are disposed; at substantially equal distance apart along1 what may be called the line ol attack at a number oi' points simultaneously.

llnstead ot a single pair ot helices on each cylinder, there may be two or more pairs, their apices being spaced around. the periphery end lying in one rotational plan. 0r several pairs or series ot pairs oit helices may he arranged along the length oi: each roller.

The pins are preferably arranged at an angle (for example, ot substantially l5 degrees) to the radial in the plane of rotation, their points being in advance in the direction oi rotation to their bases.

Examples of the proportions of" the pins and rollers and of their arrangement are given on three sheets of accompanying -zlraw ings. liigure l, Sheet il., being a dia end elevation et a pair ot' rollers i pins, liiilure i?, an elevation oit a pin, Figures f5. Ll, 5, 0, SheetQu diagrainniatie projections ot ertamigiles et the helical lay-out oitl the pins and lfigures i', 9, 10, Sheet f3, diagrams of various groupings.

is will be seen in Figures l and 2, the pins it which have tapered conical points are, relatively to their diameter, of considerable length. are pitched around the circumn ference of the cylinders B at a pitch which at the base ot the pins is less than their length (it may well be aboutihalif their length) and are inclined, to the radial, with their points in advance in the direction oli rotation.

lllhile the dimensions of the pins may vary considerably, the proportions which their diameter, their length, their circurnllerential pitch and their longitudinal distance apart, remain substantially the same. The pins may be ot any thickness of 1na terial which may give suilicient strength to accomplish the deseeding. The length must be such that the parallel part of eaehpin must project so tar beyond the surface ot its cylinder that it will at least reach a line drawn midway between the surfaces of the two cylinders at the point oi their nearest approach to each. other. The essential point is that the pins must not be so tar apart as to permit ol the seed-vessels ot the plant to be deseeded passing between them. Taking their length as unityl, their diameter may lie between 0.05 and 0.07 oi? their length, their circumiierential pitch between 0.45 and 0.0 et' their length and their longitudinal distance apart between 0.12 and 0.15% oil: their length. F or example, pins 3.25 longhave a circumferential pitch at their bases oi 1.625 a diameter oi: 0.218 and a longitudinal pitch et 0.375.

rlhe pins may be arranged in two single helices ci? opposite hand as indicated by the dotted lines in. Figure or two successive pairs et such helices as shown in Figure 4:, or in two such pairs side-by-side as indicated in Figure 5 or by a series of pairs both suer-essive and side-by-side as shown in Figure 6. Obviously many variations oi' these arrangements inay be made.

The pins may be arranged singly as shown in Figure 7, in groups ot two as shown in Figure 8, in groups oit' three as shown in :h their P ignre 9 or of 'four es shown. in Figure 10, or in a series of groups oli Various numbers.

lWbat .l claim is l, ln a. fle-seeding machine lior flax and other fibrous plants, a, pair of cooperating rollers having spaced peripberies moving in the saine ldirection at like speed, oget-lier with pins projecting` from the periphery of each roller, the pins on each roller being` arranged in helices of opposite hand meeting at a. point and the rollers being so relativelypositioned circumferentially that the meeting point of the helices on one roller is einbracecl between the sides of the helices of the In testimoniY whereof l lievesigneil my naine to this specification. 

